Good for the Midwives

Dec 30, 2012 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Shemot

What exactly was the good that God did for the midwives? This question has engaged the commentators throughout the generations.

Menuchah Nechonah鈥擯erfect Rest

Dec 20, 2012 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

鈥淕od filled with mercy, grant perfect rest, menuchah nechonah, under the wings of Your Presence, the Shekhinah . . . to the souls of all those slain, young children and teachers, at Sandy Hook School. May their resting place be in Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, and may their souls be bound up in the gathering of all life. May they come to be at peace in their place of rest and we say: Amen.鈥�

From Pain to Peace

Dec 20, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayehi

The response of Joseph鈥檚 brothers in the aftermath of Jacob鈥檚 death is dramatic: 鈥淲hen Joseph鈥檚 brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, 鈥榃hat if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong we did him!鈥欌€� (Gen. 50:15).

For the Sake of my Brothers, Sisters, and Friends

Dec 19, 2012 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

The siddur is full of selections and quotations, from the Bible, the Talmud, Midrash, and even the mystical Zohar. There is great fascination and reward to be found in 鈥渦npacking鈥� the paragraphs and pages to which we return so often in the cycles of community (and private) worship.

Unanticipated Consequences

Dec 19, 2012 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Vayiggash

Joseph鈥檚 brothers got very lucky. What started as an act of malice inspired by jealousy and spite turned out to secure the future of the Jewish People. Did they imagine the implications of their action? Did Joseph鈥檚 brothers know that their initial plot of murder and their eventual sale of Joseph into slavery would ultimately save their own lives? No, they did not.

It鈥檚 Not What You Say . . .

Dec 19, 2012 By Deborah Miller | Commentary | Vayehi

We have learned that two trees do not make a pattern鈥攊t takes three. So we have to look at a series of events in order to learn about Jacob. What can we discern?

Seeing the Big Picture of Joseph’s Life

Dec 19, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayiggash

Over the past few weeks, we have been immersed in the story of Joseph, from the fateful gift of the striped robe, to his sale to the Ishmaelites and Midianites, to his imprisonment in Egypt, his meteoric rise, and finally the family reunion.

Shalom, Shalom, Yet There is No Peace: Waging Peace and Making War

Dec 13, 2012 By 91抖阴 | Public Event video

How can the United States defend its freedoms? What is required to promote peace around the world? And, what was it like to be the highest-ranking Jewish officer in the US military?

Or Chadash (New Light): Electromagnetic or Supernal?

Dec 12, 2012 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

鈥�Or chadash al Tsiyon ta鈥檌r, venizkeh kulanu m鈥檋eirah le鈥檕ro鈥� (Cause a new light to shine on Zion, and may we all quickly have the privilege to benefit from its radiance). Each morning, before reciting the Shema鈥�, there is a blessing that opens with a quote from Isaiah praising God, 鈥渨ho forms light and creates darkness,鈥� and looks back to the first great act of Creation鈥攖he creation of light and the establishment of cycles of light and darkness, designated as day and night.

Fruits of the Land, Song of the Soil

Dec 12, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Miketz | Hanukkah

The Joseph narrative continues its dramatic twists and turns as Joseph, through his talented dream interpretations, rises to become the second most powerful figure in the land of Egypt.

Finding Meaning in the Festival of Lights

Dec 11, 2012 By Daniel Nevins | Video Lecture | Hanukkah

The days are getting shorter. The sky is getting darker. Many cultures celebrate to light up this dark part of the year. Judaism follows this with Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. But some have a hard time finding meaning in the traditional stories and rituals of Hanukkah, so Rabbi Daniel Nevins has delivered a Lunch and Learn about how to find meaning in Hanukkah.

Holy Innovation and the Festival of Hanukkah

Dec 11, 2012 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Hanukkah

What is the essential message of Hanukkah, the beloved Festival of Lights? Like many of our holidays, this celebration is protean, shifting shape to accommodate our changing Jewish needs.

Forgetting to Remember for Posterity

Dec 5, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Vayeshev

Remember the Sabbath day. Remember what Amalek did to you in the wilderness. Remember what God did to Miriam. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. Memory is integral to our identities as Jews and as individuals. What happens when we lose our memories, or our ability to remember altogether?

Mysterious Mission

Dec 5, 2012

Parashat Vayeshev represents the ceremonial and tragic opening of the Joseph narrative that will carry us to the end of the book of Genesis.

Mattathias – a Story for Hanukkah

Dec 5, 2012 By 91抖阴 | Podcast or Radio Program

Were the Assyrian-Greeks fighting a proxy war for the Soviets? You decide what this archival episode of The Eternal Light, first broadcast on December 2, 1956 is actually trying to say.

These Lights Themselves Are Holy

Dec 4, 2012 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

Soon we light the candles of Hanukkah, which symbolize so many things. In this reflection, let us turn aside for a moment from the complex history and theology, and allow ourselves to enter the realm of kodesh鈥攖hat which is holy. Hanerot Halalu (Siddur Sim Shalom, 193) is a curious text that we read, or sing, after lighting the hanukkiyah. It is not a blessing or a prayer, for it is not addressed to God; rather, it is a reminder to all who are gathered around the Hanukkah lights that we should not make use of them for any worldly purpose, for they are holy (kodesh hem).

Development, Learning, and Community

Dec 4, 2012 By Jeffrey Kress | Public Event audio

Dr. Jeffrey S. Kress, associate professor and chair of Jewish Education and academic director of the Experiential Learning Initiative at 91抖阴, talks about Development, Learning, and Community: Educating for Identity in Pluralistic Jewish High Schools. Dr. Kress’s recent book uses data drawn from a study of pluralistic Jewish high schools to illustrate the complex and often challenging interplay between the cognitive and social elements of education.

Shomer Yisra鈥檈l鈥擳he One Who Guards Israel

Nov 28, 2012 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

In the weekday liturgy, after the 鈥楢尘颈诲补丑, we find in the siddur a little-known sequence of prayer texts known as tachanun (supplications); it can be found in Siddur Sim Shalom of the Conservative Movement, pages 59 through 63. It is not difficult to detect some ambivalence about tachanun, for there is a long list of days on which it is to be omitted, including Shabbat and all Holy Days, and all days of celebration鈥攅ven the birthdays of famous rabbis.

Assumptions and Appearances

Nov 28, 2012 By Nancy Abramson | Commentary | Vayishlah

Things are not always as they appear to be. And when assumptions are based on circumstantial or incomplete evidence, we are often surprised or disappointed by what unfolds.

Angels of Peace

Nov 27, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah

This week鈥檚 parashah opens with the rising tension between Jacob and Esau.

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